We need a defense folks.....

[PanthersFanNY]

No one player loses a game by himself, stan.

The more you post, the more I think you're not right in the head.

He's not saying that Jake isn't to blame, but AK isn't one of the ones calling for Jake to be outta here. The defense has been more inconsistent than Jake this season. And has been overall mediocre through the last half of the season.

I think that reflects on the coaching. I believe we have the talent to be a great defense, we're not headed in the right direction, though.

But AK doesn't put the blame only on the defense.

Jake didn't even give the team a chance to win. Defense was on the field for 40 out of 60 minutes. While the defense has issues that need to be corrected, last night was Jake's fault alone. He admitted that, why can't you?

[Urrymonster]

Getting this thread back on the actual topic at hand...

Where is it that our D is struggling so badly? Take out the scheme and playcalling and look at the starting personal and where exactly we have struggled. Now I am not particularly knowledgable on Football (coming from England!) but I am trying to get people to actually start thinking about where this D is struggling in terms of personel. So use my post as a bridge to your own opinions other than 'He SUX'. Would be good to identify where we were struggling in the rnning and passing game and who is kinda responsible for those areas.

Running Game

Where have we been burnt in the running game? Is it the inside runs? Is our DL allowing their blockers to engage on our LBs too easily? Do we struggle with cutbacks due to over pursuit? Or do we not have the speed to deal with pitches and outside running? Let's look at those mainly responsible for controlling the run.

MLB - Beason

Pretty much one of the best players we could have in this spot and suits our style of play incredibly. He has fire and is a great leader and leaves it on the line every snap.

OLB - Davis & Diggs

Davis has had a decent year in terms of stats and Diggs is often referred to as a very solid veteran. I like Davis' attitude as he is similar to Beason in that he is fiery and a very determined individual, although he does on occassion lose his discipline and cause some costly penalties (getting better though...).

NT - Ma'ake Kemoeatu

Big body and we were gashed when he was not in there. Beason referenced him to being a major contributor to his success as he did the dirty job of keeping blockers off him and allowing him to tackle. One of the key reasons why Beason has managed to rack up such impressive stats and be a force against the run?

DT - Daimone Lewis

Not as much is said about him other than he is probably best served as a rotational guy. He has a good burst and has added bulk to deal with starting. But is his burst allowing blockers to shield im in one direction and thus allowing the other blockers to descend on the LBs?

DE - Peppers & Brayton

Really really disciplined DEs here. Hold up the line and are always looking for the run first and then pushing towards the QB. Brayton has fire too, Peppers not so much. Neither player takes plays off although their discipline can come across as lack of determination as they are not racing gung ho to the QB. For people who do not believe me, check the Ravens DL. They are so impressive and always hold the line before pushing forward once the play is diagnosed - the difference is they are just better...

SS - Chris Harris

I rate this guy highly although has to be used in the proper way. Great fire and determination and truely loves playing football. He is slow though and not so great in coverage, but as we are looking at the running game at the moment this guy is as good as you can get in my opinion. He blows guards up on his way to the HB.

So pretty much all those guys are seen to be great at stopping the run, but if that is the fact, how come we struggled against in the second half of the season? Where is it that we are really in need of change and are some of us just looking at the personal with tinted glasses on?

[AKPantherFan]

Getting this thread back on the actual topic at hand...

Where is it that our D is struggling so badly? Take out the scheme and playcalling and look at the starting personal and where exactly we have struggled. Now I am not particularly knowledgable on Football (coming from England!) but I am trying to get people to actually start thinking about where this D is struggling in terms of personel. So use my post as a bridge to your own opinions other than 'He SUX'. Would be good to identify where we were struggling in the rnning and passing game and who is kinda responsible for those areas.

Running Game

Where have we been burnt in the running game? Is it the inside runs? Is our DL allowing their blockers to engage on our LBs too easily? Do we struggle with cutbacks due to over pursuit? Or do we not have the speed to deal with pitches and outside running? Let's look at those mainly responsible for controlling the run.

MLB - Beason

Pretty much one of the best players we could have in this spot and suits our style of play incredibly. He has fire and is a great leader and leaves it on the line every snap.

OLB - Davis & Diggs

Davis has had a decent year in terms of stats and Diggs is often referred to as a very solid veteran. I like Davis' attitude as he is similar to Beason in that he is fiery and a very determined individual, although he does on occassion lose his discipline and cause some costly penalties (getting better though...).

NT - Ma'ake Kemoeatu

Big body and we were gashed when he was not in there. Beason referenced him to being a major contributor to his success as he did the dirty job of keeping blockers off him and allowing him to tackle. One of the key reasons why Beason has managed to rack up such impressive stats and be a force against the run?

DT - Daimone Lewis

Not as much is said about him other than he is probably best served as a rotational guy. He has a good burst and has added bulk to deal with starting. But is his burst allowing blockers to shield im in one direction and thus allowing the other blockers to descend on the LBs?

DE - Peppers & Brayton

Really really disciplined DEs here. Hold up the line and are always looking for the run first and then pushing towards the QB. Brayton has fire too, Peppers not so much. Neither player takes plays off although their discipline can come across as lack of determination as they are not racing gung ho to the QB. For people who do not believe me, check the Ravens DL. They are so impressive and always hold the line before pushing forward once the play is diagnosed - the difference is they are just better...

SS - Chris Harris

I rate this guy highly although has to be used in the proper way. Great fire and determination and truely loves playing football. He is slow though and not so great in coverage, but as we are looking at the running game at the moment this guy is as good as you can get in my opinion. He blows guards up on his way to the HB.

So pretty much all those guys are seen to be great at stopping the run, but if that is the fact, how come we struggled against in the second half of the season? Where is it that we are really in need of change and are some of us just looking at the personal with tinted glasses on?

Our front four are lacking. I dont care what anyone says. They were average.

And when we play as far off as we do they cant be "average".

Its not personel on the defense as much as it is SCHEME-

Thats what I mean when I say "we need a defense" -- Our scheme sucks.

when your giving up 400 yards a game, win or lose, there ARE som BIG problems.

[goodlay]

Peppers will be here next year, Fox absolutely loves the guy.

[Proudiddy]

Exactly AK. But I think the talent is obviously there. Perhaps we could use an upgrade over Diggs, bring in another DT that specializes in pass rushing to get pressure up the middle, and depending on what happens with Pep bring in another DE.

But, as I've stated... The problem is the coaching. Turdo had one good year, that was the year after Del Rio left. Probably because they still followed much of what Del Rio did and he hadn't added much of his own stuff in.

I was watching the BAL/TEN game yesterday and was just kind of in awe at how Baltimore's defense has been/is feared every year, no matter the turnover of players. Why? The schemes utilize their players abilities to the utmost... Look at Ray Lewis, 34 and still getting sideline to sideline and knocking guys' helmets off... We haven't had that since Del Rio left. As many have mentioned... we don't play well because of the coaching, we've done well IN SPITE of the coaching.

[OneBadassCat]

Our defense could be so much better with a new coordinator and new scheme. But personnel wise our d-line is really lacking. The DT position is lacking talent, Kemo is fine as a starter but Lewis, Hayden, Walker are all rotational guys. We need a pass rushing DT in the draft this year, a starter. I think Johnson will be good to go next year at the LE starter.

A d-line that will get consistent pressure will make our secondary look much much better.

[Kevin Greene]

Pep and Lucas can go. When it matters most, BOTH are invisible.

Pep says he isn't happy. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I've got no problem spending there 25 million cap hit on some other players.

We have needed a defense for A LONG TIME---

Last night was just a nightmare. Cant change it, and our offense will be ok.

I am not worried about scoring points, its stopping other teams from doing it that bothers me. We have not done that in a long while.

This is NOT ABOUT last night....

They just don't get it. We need to fix the D personal plus the coordinator. With a proper D and our running game we'd only need to throw the ball 20 times a game anyway.

Arizona ran the ball 43 times yesterday, that's how you win in the playoffs. Our feared running backs touched the ball 15 times total.

[Carolina Crazy V2]

Gross and Peppers are staying

How do you know?

[WCABBall]

I agree with this post completely. The defense has been a problem for several weeks now and has been hidden by the offense and specifically the running game.

Let's face it, Jake was terrible last night, but part of the problem was that we abandoned the run way to early. We hit the panic button and asked Jake to win the game which he can't do. We got here based on the run.

We need defensive help. CB, DE, and DT. and by the way a new D Coordinator

[Pantherxtreme]

If anybody thought going into this game we would beat Arizona by barely scoring 13 points your an idiot,

even in most of their lopsided losses they scored more than that.

only a NE blizzard has slowed that offense down.

defense at the moment is bad, QB is worse.

[theadmas]

I agree with you on the Defense. It hasn't looked very good since about half way through the season. Our team is built around the idea that we have one of those stingy, feared defenses. We are supposed to have a great D, a great running game, and the ability to throw enough passes down field to keep the other team honest. Jake is who he is, he is supposed to be a game manager, and when the system breaks, he tries do to it all on his own.

As for our D, I like our players on that side of the ball. Some changes need to be made schematically. I don't see any of the coordinators being removed. So really the only hope is that Fox and Turgo and get together and make the necessary changes to give us a Defense that matters next year. Can they do it, i think so. Will they do it? Hard to tell....

[Urrymonster]

One thing I do want to know is why did they try all those different looks against NO and have Steve practice a live punt return, to then play so unimaginatively on both sides of the ball for the entire game?

I actually got a bit excited seeing all the movement on the DL against NO as I thought this was a sign of things to come and that we were going to all of a sudden throw things in that our opponents would not of seen us do. Silly me!

[Cuttinedge]

I was watching the BAL/TEN game yesterday and was just kind of in awe at how Baltimore's defense has been/is feared every year, no matter the turnover of players. Why? The schemes utilize their players abilities to the utmost... Look at Ray Lewis, 34 and still getting sideline to sideline and knocking guys' helmets off... We haven't had that since Del Rio left. As many have mentioned... we don't play well because of the coaching, we've done well IN SPITE of the coaching.

What impressed me the most was they gave up almost 250 yards in the 1st half. In the 2nd half they gave up around 50 or 60 yards.. Thats called halftime adjustments and good coaching..

Now I realize Johnson was out in the 2nd half but I think some of the heavy hitting in the 1st half had something to do with that along with the ankle.

DC & the assistants are the weak link here get anybody who has been a Jim Johnson understudy.

[roadhog20082000]

if pep is unhappy then let him go but i think he will stay here as for jake please show him the door